The lone livery of China Eastern Airlines as the sole operator of China’s homegrown C919 jet is over. The COMAC-built aircraft was photographed in flight in the Air China and China Southern Airlines livery in early August.
Images of the first two jets were posted on Chinese social media site Weibo in recent days, showing the aircraft with provisional registration B-002L and B-002M taking off from Shanghai’s Pudong Airport, where COMAC is based.
According to records, the China Southern Airlines C919 took off for the first time on August 3, while the Air China plane completed its maiden flight on August 9.
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At China Southern, the C919 will be registered as B-919J and will be configured with 164 seats, with eight in business class and 156 in economy, but with a few more spacious rows in the “Pearl” subclass.
Air China is expected to register its first C919 as B-919X, according to Planespotters. The main cabin configuration, however, will be more comfortable, with eight seats in business class and just 150 seats in economy.
The two carriers ordered 100 aircraft each from COMAC earlier this year. China Eastern, the launch customer, has 105 firm orders.
Both aircraft are expected to be delivered to their customers in August, beginning a new stage in their commercial career.
EASA certification expected by 2025
According to Chinese media, the C919 is close to obtaining type certification from EASA, the European civil aviation agency.
This is expected to happen in 2025, opening a huge window of order opportunities for COMAC, as EASA approval is generally followed by other civil aviation authorities around the world.
However, there are concerns about COMAC’s production capacity, which is still at a very low rate.
In addition, the C919 relies on many Western components, such as the Leap1-C engine, supplied by CFM, which also powers the Boeing 737 MAX and the Airbus A320neo.
